Ducati Mugello test summary

Ducati MotoGP Testing Session
POSITIVE END TO THE THREE-DAY TEST SESSION WITH SETE GIBERNAU AT MUGELLO
The three-day test session at the Tuscan track of Mugello has concluded
in a positive fashion for Sete Gibernau. The Spanish rider has...

Ducati MotoGP Testing Session

POSITIVE END TO THE THREE-DAY TEST SESSION WITH SETE GIBERNAU AT MUGELLO

The three-day test session at the Tuscan track of Mugello has concluded
in a positive fashion for Sete Gibernau. The Spanish rider has clocked up
a great deal of kilometres on track (around 800kms in total) first with
the GP9, then with the GP8, finishing with a final exit on the GP9 for a
'back to back' comparison.

In this, only his second test session after nearly two years away from
the tracks, Gibernau has proved that he still has the speed and is also
more than competent in providing the Ducati Corse engineers with useful
feedback for the development of the Desmosedici.

Gibernau made many exits of 4 or 5 laps each and demonstrated a high
level of physical fitness, in view of the difficult climatic conditions,
with air temperatures of over 30C and track temperatures exceeding
50C. Despite this, the Spanish rider kept up an excellent pace,
lapping consistently in a low 1m51.

Worth a mention too is his fastest lap, made on a race tyre (Sete
didn't test qualifiers), of 1'50.5 on board the GP8, just a
few tenths off this year's race record (belonging to Casey
Stoner).

"I want to thank not only Ducati but also all the guys that have
supported me here," declared Sete Gibernau. "Some of them
worked with me in 2006 and it was great to find ourselves together again.
I've really enjoyed myself today and have had a completely new
experience as a rider. The faster you go, the more obvious it becomes
that this bike demands a real physical and mental effort, but when you
manage to ride it well, the satisfaction is unique. I hope my work has
been of use to Filippo, to help understand the differences between the
GP8 and GP9. They are two machines with characteristics typical of
Ducati, and the GP9, although new, hows great potential."

"First of all I want to compliment Sete and thank him for the
great job he has done here this week," stated Filippo Preziosi.
"It is always a pleasure to work with an experienced rider like
Sete and his feedback will undoubtedly help us. His comments are very
similar to those made by Casey and Vittoriano and this confirms that
we're proceeding in the right direction. We will evaluate with him
whether there can be other opportunities for him to work with us on track
with our bikes. He has certainly demonstrated that he's still able
to ride very fast. A special thanks also to the MotoGP team (present at
the track were engineer Cristhian Pupulin and chief mechanic Davide
Manfredi who work with Melandri, electronics engineer Gabriele Conti and
mechanics Roberto Clerici, Andrea Brunetti and Giorgio Castur from
Stoner's team, and Yoshio Shinke from the Development team) who
have, as ever, shown willing by adding these three days of testing to
their very busy race calendar. I hope that this result will also spur on
Marco and Toni. In the last months we have worked hard to improve the GP8
but I think I can now say that it is a good level and we hope that they
too can get the most out of the machine in the coming races."